Voice of the People for Dec. 17, 2009

Brooklyn: Eliminating free or subsidized transportation for students is a very bad idea. It will give reluctant students one more excuse for skipping school, and society will ultimately pay. Has the MTA looked at hiking single-ride fares for casual riders and tourists to make up the difference? Visitors to the city are always amazed that our transit system is so efficient and inexpensive.

Long Island City: The MTA is threatening drastic cuts to the Access-a-Ride program for people with disabilities, reducing this vital paratransit service to the federally mandated minimum. Access-a-Ride is a vital lifeline for people who cannot navigate the subways or buses. I have to believe that the MTA can resolve its budgetary problems without further limiting options for those who are already dealing with such tremendous challenges.

Hazlet, N.J.: Working a full-time job (likely not much longer) and attending to a family of four with two teenage children takes up most of my time, but health care reform legislation is probably the biggest issue of our lifetime. Compromise is essential, but surrender is never. Any final version must contain a robust public option, or I cannot support it - or any representatives who do not do so as well.

Walden, N.Y.: I believe it is time for the Connecticut attorney general to bring charges against Sen. Joe Lieberman for failure to perform his duties for the citizens of his state in blocking any and all reform of the health care industry. America is for the people, not for the corporate giants.

Manhattan: The Republican Party proves it is super-insane by wanting to block Medicaid funding for abortions. The GOP doesn't want minorities taking over America but forces poor minorities to have millions of unwanted babies they can't take care of. Most crime in America is committed by people who were neglected children. When you hear the GOP complain about crime, remember that it created almost all of it.

North Brunswick, N.J.: I encourage the rejection of the Copenhagen Treaty. Its premise is flawed. It places burdens on the United States while allowing other industrial countries, like China and India, to remain unrestricted. Even if enacted, the science is inconclusive on whether this would cease climate change.

Brookville, L.I.: We must stop the spread of nuclear weapons and especially stop them from landing in the hands of men incapable of control. The world will not ever be safe if Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attains those weapons. He is a threat to his own country as well as to Israel and the world as we know it.

Manhattan: Lost in your editorial "Kissing jobs goodbye" (Dec. 15) are some crucial facts. There would not have been so much opposition to the development of the historic Kingsbridge Armory if the mayor had included residents in its planning and leveraged the millions of dollars in promised subsidies to create good jobs. Yes, the Bronx has "astronomical" unemployment, but by failing to guarantee that residents have access to jobs at other massively subsidized projects in the area - Yankee Stadium, Croton water filtration plant and Gateway Mall - the administration hasn't done its part to help alleviate the problem. Make no mistake. Greed killed this project, not the efforts of Bronx residents to actively engage in the borough's development.

Bettina DamianiGood Jobs New York

Pay scales

Manhattan: The unemployment lines are getting longer, but the federal government is hiring. In the last couple of years, raises for federal employees have gone up 12%, and the federal government just approved a 2% raise. To add insult to injury, the average private sector salary is $40,000 a year while the average federal worker's salary is $70,000 a year. Am I correct is saying that there is something wrong with this picture?

Manhattan: Stanley Crouch just doesn't get it ("Tiger's tale is not about race," Dec. 14). The issue should be one of infidelity, not the skin color of his mistresses. If Tiger Woods wanted this kind of lifestyle, then why bother getting married? I would even go as far as saying that most wives of sports stars who think their husbands are faithful in the face of such temptations are probably naïve.

Manhattan: The powers that be in golf should be begging Tiger not to leave because he's brought so many more fans to the table. I'll bet the golfers and commentators who are critical of Woods have had affairs themselves.

Manhattan: All Yankees fans should thank Hideki Matsui for the decency and class that he bestowed on the organization these past seven years, along with his many baseball skills. The Angels have become a better, classier organization simply by signing him. I wish him the best with his new team.

Carol Hopkins

Scouting report

Ozone Park: Once again the Mets think we loyal fans aren't paying attention as they let two of the league's best pitchers float over our heads like an Ollie Perez fastball. If they are really waiting for a bargain deal, I know a homeless guy on 104th St. and Liberty Ave. who can throw an empty whiskey bottle into a speeding garbage truck from a block away.

Huntington Station, L.I.: How about taking taxpayer money from foreign aid and using it for a cost-of-living adjustment for American senior citizens?

Ken Krasniewski

Facts of life

Manhattan: Voicer Robert Snedeker sought to remind us of "the simple fact that creation requires a man and a woman." But of course. That is how all of us homosexuals were created. Thank you, thank God and Merry Chistmas.

Floral Park, L.I.: Voicer M. Brucker writes, "Evergreen trees symbolize the eternal life offered to Christians through Christ." Now I get it. You kill it, stuff it in the corner of your living room for two weeks, then throw it in the gutter. That's religion for you.

Staten Island: Voicer Jack Murphy absolves former Vice President Dick Cheney for dodging the draft five times. Cheney's statement that he had other priorities than military service during Vietnam riles a lot of people, since he sent brave men and women to the Iraq quagmire of his making. His further comment that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, when, in fact, the sole purpose of the invasion was regime change, riles us even more.